Research paperUniversal solution for the characteristic time and the degree of settlement in nonlinear soil consolidation scenarios. A deduction based on nondimensionalization

•Dimensionless groups of nonlinear soil consolidation deduced by nondimensionalization.•Characteristic time is introduced and expressed in terms of the system's parameters.•Universal curves of average degree of settlement and characteristic time are given.

Using the mathematical-physical process of nondimensionalization of governing equations, the problem of nonlinear soil consolidation based on the Cornetti and Battaglio model removing some of the restrictive hypotheses assumed by these authors is studied for the search of the dimensionless groups that govern the characteristic time and the average degree of settlement. The derived groups, once verified by numerical simulations, allow the universal representation of the aforementioned unknowns for the wide range of properties of real soils.